


young at heart all the way

by pentagemini



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Pining, happy birthday jas, unbeta’d
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 17:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18554779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pentagemini/pseuds/pentagemini
Summary: Minghao likes Hansol.





	young at heart all the way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vsyubs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vsyubs/gifts).



> !warning! bad writing ahead
> 
> and onto more important things,  
> happy birthday nugget queen!! i hope u enjoy. love u lots  
> title from re-done by modern baseball <3

When Hansol and Minghao get their hands on a bottle of beer for the first time, they take their bikes and cycle all the way to the big stone, the one by the river.

Still a bit warm for October, even at night. No one comes by this place except for them. The moon is hanging above them, shining light where there’s none. Hansol cracks the beer open and hands the bottle to Minghao, who looks at it for a second before taking a sip. They lean against the big stone, drinking.

“It’s disgusting,” Minghao is the first to say.

“Bitter,” Hansol adds, handing the bottle back to Minghao. “Are we supposed to be drunk now?”

“I don’t think so,” Minghao answers after another sip. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“How much do we need to drink then?” Minghao thinks Hansol gives him way too much credit. Minghao doesn’t have the answer to every question, but Hansol often acts like he does.

Minghao takes a quick glance at the beer in his hand. “I guess the whole bottle?”

“ _T_ _he whole_ —all of it?”

Minghao laughs at the face Hansol makes. “There’s two of us.”

-

In February, Hansol turns seventeen. Minghao calls him when the clock hits twelve.

“Happy birthday,” he says, smiling.

“Thanks,” Hansol laughs. “You could’ve waited ‘till school, you know. Or just ‘till morning.”

“Yeah, I know, but I wanted to call you now.”

“You’re my best friend, you know.”

“You’re mine.”

Minghao gets Hansol a green bomber jacket and Star Wars action figures.

-

Close to spring. Hansol is having some trouble in school. Over the phone, Minghao is trying to calm him down. “I’ll study with you. Stay up all night if we have to.”

“Go as me,” Hansol says. “Take both our exams.”

Minghao laughs. “That’ll never work. Everyone knows your face. It’s a very talked of face.”

“What do you mean?” Hansol asks.

Minghao thinks for a minute. “I mean, you have a beautiful face. That’s what everyone in school thinks.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?” Minghao isn’t that stupid. But still.

“Don’t play dumb,” Hansol says. “If it helps, I think you have a beautiful face.”

Minghao laughs. Thank god Hansol can’t see how red his face got.

-

Since he promised to help Hansol with his studies, Minghao lives up to that promise. They’ve been studying for hours now. Minghao goes to the kitchen and returns with two glasses of water for them, only to find Hansol asleep at his desk, face pressed against an open calculus notebook.

He puts the glasses down on the bedside table, pressing his lips together. He looks at Hansol, sound asleep, his light brown hair falling around his forehead and covering his eyes. A quick look at the clock on the wall confirms they’re way past studying hours, so Minghao does the only thing he can think of—picking Hansol up and tucking him into bed.

Everything goes smoothly until Minghao covers Hansol with the blanket and his eyes flutter open. “What time is it?” He asks sleepily.

“Late. You can sleep.” Minghao says from where he stands, hovering above Hansol. “I’ll take the couch.”

Hansol closes his eyes. “Don’t be silly,” he grabs Minghao’s wrist and pulls him down. “Your bed is big enough for both of us.”

The second his head hits the pillow Minghao’s eyes start to feel heavy. Hansol envelopes him, pulls him closer. Minghao falls asleep.

-

Minghao wakes up from a disturbing dream. In the dream, Hansol is right in front of Minghao, but he can’t reach him. No matter how hard he tries, Hansol is out of reach, and Minghao starts calling his name, shouting it, but Hansol can’t hear him. He just keeps standing there, a pair of eyes. Minghao tries and tries but he can’t find the right words, can’t find the courage to speak his mind, can’t make Hansol hear him out.

-

Hansol’s cat runs away. They go around town putting up posters and asking people if they saw him.

Hansol’s expression is blank. He hasn’t said a single word since Minghao rushed over to meet him, staring into space while Minghao stops pedestrians to hold a poster with a picture of Ziggy in their faces.

After over an hour of searching and asking around, everyone is  _very sorry to hear, but haven’t seen anything._ Minghao squeezes Hansol’s shoulder. “We’re gonna find him, I promise,” he says quietly, placing a finger under Hansol’s chin to make the other look him in the eyes. “Your mom and Sofia are driving around looking for him too, so don’t worry,” Hansol doesn’t say anything, but after a few more seconds he starts nodding, like the act itself makes Minghao’s words sound more convincing. “Do you want to keep looking?” Hansol nods again. “Right. Let’s look by the river, maybe he felt like going for a swim.”

Hansol’s lips squeeze together and tries to hold his laughter, but fails and bursts into a fit, draping an arm over Minghao’s shoulders for support. Minghao giggles at his best friend’s reaction and eventually starts laughing too. “It’s not that funny,” he says, trying to catch a breath.

“But he’s a cat,” Hansol finally manages to croak out. “He hates water.” He looks at Minghao like he can’t believe him.

Minghao shrugs. “At least I made you laugh,” he says, confident.

“Yeah, you did.”

Hansol lets go of Minghao’s shoulders, intertwining their fingers together. “The river?”

“We need to turn around, then.”

Two hours and three circles around town later, Hansol’s mom calls to say she and Sofia found Ziggy hiding under a slide in the playground. She shows up fifteen minutes later to pick them up. Sofia sits next to Hansol who sits next to Minghao.

Only when Mrs. Chwe drops Minghao off at home does Hansol let go of his hand.

-

Hansol passes all his exams, and Minghao and him celebrate with a twenty piece box of McNuggets.

“In heaven there’s an all you can eat nuggets stand, open twenty-four-seven,” Hansol says.

Minghao squeezes his eyes shut. “You can eat the rest, I’m done,” he falls on his back, sprawled out on the bed, hands on his stomach.

Hansol nudges Minghao’s side with his foot. “You’re weak.”

“We’ll see who’s weak an hour from now when you have a stomach ache and I don’t.”

A silence lingers between them for a little while. Hansol lays his head next to Minghao’s, holding a nugget to his mouth. “Do you really have to go?”

“It’s the first time I get the chance,” Minghao says, his voice coming out small. “But I’ll be back before you know it.”

Hansol takes a bite of his nugget. “Summer will be so boring without you.”

“Summer will be so boring without you.” Minghao repeats.

“Nah,” Hansol dismisses him. “You’ll be abroad, in a brand new place you’ve never been to, making all these great memories, and I’ll be here, stuck in a town where the only exciting thing is the end of summer festival, and even that is two months away.”

Minghao makes a face. “I’ll be abroad, in a scary new place I’ve never been to, meeting people I’ve never met who are actually my family, speaking a language I’ve only ever spoken with my parents.”

Hansol uses his palms to push himself up. “Minghao.”

“It’s fine. But summer will be so boring without you.”

Hansol looks at him without saying a word. Minghao doesn’t know what to say either. It helps a lot when Hansol pulls Minghao and hugs him really really tight, saying everything for the both of them.

-

It’s the busiest summer in Minghao’s life. So much to see and so much to do and so many people to meet and the pressure to impress is taking a toll on him. He misses his town and his home and his bed but most of all he misses Hansol. He misses being able to talk to someone freely. Misses being able to talk to someone who actually knows him. And they talk—Hansol calls everyday to update Minghao on everything, about Sofia and Ziggy. He tells him he started hanging out with Seungkwan and Chan, two boys in their class, a lot more now that Minghao’s away. Minghao holds his breath when they’re on the phone sometimes, wishing he was there and not here, and exhales deeply when Hansol says he misses him. It pinches his heart every time, but not in a bad way, and he tells Hansol he misses him more.

-

One thing that happened while Minghao was gone, Hansol didn’t tell him, and Minghao didn’t expect.

“What do you even mean, a girlfriend?  _A girlfriend_? You got a girlfriend over the summer and didn’t even tell me? You couldn’t bother to tell me?”

“I didn’t know how to say it over the phone!  _Hey best friend, hope China’s great and all—oh, by the way, I have a girlfriend now_?”

They’re standing by the river. Minghao kicks at a few rocks on the ground, kicks the sand with the edge of his shoe. He’s mad. He doesn’t know what he’s more mad about: the fact Hansol hadn’t told him, or the fact that he—

“Why didn’t you tell me,” he whispers.

“I just told you. I didn’t know  _how_ to tell you.”

Minghao shakes his head. “You could’ve told me! We talked everyday! Everyday, everyday for two months—everyday that you could’ve  _said_ something!”

“Minghao, please. I swear I didn’t know—“

“How. Yeah, I heard you the first time,” Minghao grits his teeth, turning around with his hands on his head. “Your first girlfriend.”

“I know.”

Minghao can live with a lot of things. For example, Hansol having a girlfriend. Hansol’s _girlfriend_. One thing he can’t live  _without_ , is Hansol. “I tell you everything, you tell me everything. That’s our deal. It’s been our deal. Ever since first grade. Don’t back up on me now.”

Hansol nods repeatedly. “I promise. From now on I’ll tell you about every girlfriend. You’re the first one to know, okay? You’ll know before she does.”

Minghao exhales a breath he’s been holding. He’s not even the least bit relieved.

-

Seungkwan and Chan are fun. They’re loud and obnoxious and everything about them is the complete opposite of Minghao. They bicker constantly, at each other’s throats more times than not, but clearly adore one another. Seungkwan talks about a guy in their class a few times, Mingyu, so Minghao asks if the two of them are good friends. Seungkwan laughs so hard that Chan has to hold him in place to prevent him from falling and hitting his head on the ground. After a few deep breaths Seungkwan informs Minghao Mingyu and him had actually just started dating, and that Mingyu, in Seungkwan words, is  _totally oblivious and lacking of manners_ , and that he likes him a lot. Minghao swallows at the face Seungkwan makes, smitten, and does everything in his power not to sneak a glance at Hansol when Seungkwan says the words,  _I like him a lot._

-

Minghao turns seventeen in October. Hansol calls him when the clock hits twelve.

“Happy birthday,” he tells him.

“Thank you,” Minghao giggles. “Couldn’t wait ‘till morning?”

“Nope,” Hansol replies. “But when did we ever?”

“Point,” Minghao nods. “I guess you’re my best friend.”

“I guess you’re mine.”

-

Hansol’s girlfriend is pretty. Her name is Yerim. Her brown hair falls perfectly on her shoulders, her eyes big and beautiful, lips pink, her smile is so sweet you get a toothache just by looking at it. The three of them hang out sometimes—but Minghao almost always ends up regretting it—every time the two kiss it makes him feel weird and his stomach turns to knots.

-

At a house party on a Friday, Minghao gets his first kiss.

His name is Junhui. He goes to a different school, but apparently knows enough people from Minghao’s school to be invited to this party.

By now, Minghao’s learned that in order to get drunk, you need to consume more than just half a bottle of beer, and that even though alcohol tastes horrible, taste can be acquired.

The kiss is nothing more than a short pressing of lips  together, lasting maybe ten seconds. Junhui’s lips are soft and his mouth tastes like vodka, but his neck smells like cologne, and the scent is intoxicating. When Minghao withdraws, Junhui flashes a smile.

Suddenly and all at once, Minghao needs to get the hell out of there. They’re leaning against the footboard of the bed—Minghao stands up, shakes his head, the same words echoing in his head over and over again—“I have to go,” he mumbles at a rightfully confused Junhui, just before splitting and running out of the room.

Minghao squeezes himself in the sea of people crowding the house, trying to find an exit. His head is spinning.

“Minghao?” A hand lands on his shoulder with a firm grip, holding him in place. Minghao doesn’t even need to look at Hansol’s face for the latter to take him outside, his arm tucked around his waist and guiding him to safety. At the first intake of fresh air, Minghao feels himself start to calm down.

“I want to go home,” he says. “I really want to go home.”

Hansol walks them over to a street bench across from the house, where it’s less noisy, and sits Minghao down next to him. “What happened?”

_I tell you everything, you tell me everything._

“I just had my first kiss,” Minghao says quietly.

Hansol’s mouth falls open. “Oh. So was it… bad?”

“I just had my first kiss, and it was with a guy.”

“ _Oh.”_

Minghao turns to look at Hansol. “I want to go home.”

He nods. “Okay.”

This time, it’s  _Hansol_ who’s tucking  _Minghao_ to bed.  Minghao is drunk and still a bit overwhelmed, but his inhibitions are down and brain to mouth filter distorted. “Did you really ditch your girlfriend?”

Hansol covers him with the blanket. “She’ll survive. She has a lot of friends back there.”

“Seem to like her a lot,” Minghao says on a yawn, moving around and making himself comfortable under the covers. Hansol sits down at the edge of the bed. “You’ve been going out for what, five months now?”

“Four, actually.”

“Huh. Feels longer,” Minghao murmurs.

“Minghao, did the guy try anything? Did he—“

“Oh, no. He just kissed me. But I kissed him back,” Minghao replies, his eyes fluttering closed. “And then I ran out of there.”

“Yeah,” Hansol’s eyebrows knit together. “Why did you?”

“Lemme sleep,” Minghao mutters, pulling the blanket over his head.

Hansol rolls his eyes. “Fine,” he says. “But I’m staying until you do.”

Minghao keeps the blanket over his head, unmoving, for at least ten minutes. At some point, he hears Hansol sigh, feels his shoulders droop down when the breath exits his body and the bed squeaks with it.

“I don’t think I do,” Hansol whispers. It’s not sadness in his voice, it’s something else, but Minghao can’t figure out what it is. He doesn’t move. “I don’t think I like her at all.”

Minghao hears the bed squeak again when Hansol stands up, and the door open, then close.

-

Minghao spends Saturday thinking about what Hansol had said.

His first assumption is Hansol must’ve thought Minghao was already asleep, and figured he could get it off his chest without anyone ever knowing. His second thought (and the one he’s both terrified of and secretly hopes is true) Hansol  _knew_ Minghao was still awake, and  _wanted_ him to know he doesn’t like his girlfriend.

All that thinking gives Minghao nothing except a really bad headache.

That’s why on Sunday, Minghao asks Seungkwan if he’s free for ice cream.

Seungkwan gets a cone with mint chocolate chip while Minghao gets a cup of passion fruit sorbet. The sun is hitting directly where they’re sitting, the last few rays before the end of autumn and the start of winter.

Something about Seungkwan is fascinating to Minghao. He’s bold. Nothing is ever too out of reach for him. He cracks jokes like fingers and rides the sound of his own laughter like a wave. Minghao is impressed by him. It’s not awkward when he asks him about Mingyu because Seungkwan admits he’s been dying to talk about him, since Chan is getting tired of it. The first thing Minghao asks is how the two even got together. Seungkwan tells the story of his confession beautifully, and without leaving any details. Minghao listens carefully to every word he has to say. It comes down to courage, Seungkwan tells him. He says it also helps if they actually like you back. Minghao asks Seungkwan how did he know Mingyu liked him back. Seungkwan says he didn’t.

-

“So,” Hansol appears from behind him, throwing his bike to the ground and sitting down, leaning against the big stone next to Minghao. He's wearing the green bomber jacket Minghao got him for his birthday. “I’m here. What’s up?”

“I don’t actually know,” Minghao says on a sigh. “I mean, I know, but I can’t find the right words.“

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to be the first to know about every girlfriend,” Minghao finds himself saying.

Hansol quirks an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t want to be that guy.” Minghao’s right—he really can’t find the right words, and everything comes out jumbled and the real meaning stays hidden behind what he actually wants to say but can’t. “I don’t want to be the guy who watches from the sidelines while you fall in love.”

Hansol shakes his head. “You think I’m in love with Yerim?”

“That’s not what I said,” Minghao sighs. He needs to get down the point, to the basic facts, but circling around them is much easier.

“I’m not,” Hansol says. “I’m not in love with her. I don’t even—I—I broke up with her last night.”

Minghao’s eyes widen and his mouth hangs open in shock. “You did  _what_?”

“Yeah,” Minghao looks at him. “After the party on Friday, I did some thinking, and,” he averts his gaze, looking down at his shoes. “And I realized it wasn’t right. Because I was leading her on, and I don’t want to be that kind of guy. I like her, but just not like  _that_ , you know? It just wasn’t like that. So I told her everything, and she took it pretty well, I think. I mean, she cried a little, but…”

Minghao doesn’t know what to say, so he says this, “I went for ice cream with Seungkwan today.”

“You did? That’s nice.”

“Yeah. I asked him how he and Mingyu got together,” Hansol hums. “He told me the whole story. It’s really cute.”

“I know. He told it to me too when you were in China.”

“Really? And what did you think?”

Hansol opens his mouth to speak but pauses.

Minghao thinks it’s time for him to find the courage to speak his mind. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think it must’ve been easier for Seungkwan to confess because Mingyu isn’t his best friend, so he didn’t have to worry about losing his best friend and only about losing the guy he likes,” he takes a deep breath. “I think it’s hard—harder when a friendship is on the line, at stake. And I think this is me saying I really like you, Hansol, and I’m sorry it took me so long to—“

“You’re sorry?” Hansol interrupts with the biggest smile. He laughs, placing a hand on Minghao’s nape, and pulls him in for a kiss.

Minghao’s eyes widen when their lips meet, but soon close, and he kisses Hansol back. It’s nothing like the kiss he shared with Junhui, and not because Hansol’s mouth doesn’t taste like alcohol. Minghao’s heart is beating so fast he think he might pass out, and he moves to sit on Hansol’s lap, deepening the kiss, his hands coming up to Hansol’s neck, up to his hair and digging fingers into his scalp. Minghao parts his lips at the feel of Hansol’s tongue, and he licks inside his mouth, presses harder, eager. When Minghao draws back to breathe, Hansol’s smile looks even bigger. “I’m sorry it took me so long.” He says, and Hansol only leans in to kiss him again.

-

In February, Hansol turns eighteen, and Minghao kisses him when the clock hits twelve.

“Happy birthday,” he says against Hansol’s lips. Hansol smiles.

“Thanks,” he laughs, locking his arms around Minghao’s waist. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> i’m sorry vrh nation
> 
> comments and feedback are GREATLY appreciated!


End file.
